nothing gold can stay

2024: a play in 12 acts

Take a look around you: we’re sitting at the end of the film roll, at the bottom of the ice cream cone. Yes, it’s the last gasp of summer and that seems as good a time as any to get hopelessly drunk on nostalgia. There’s something about August that invites this sort of melancholy. Summer is still here, but in a sort of haze. All the humidity and none of the afterglow. While this can feel like a letdown after the thrills of the season, I’m determined to ride the wave.

Perhaps August feels this way because, in the back of our adult minds, we all still live and die by the school calendar. This is the time we’re meant to be buying crisp number two pencils and printing out a syllabus. As a kid I found this time oddly comforting, a return to routine, but it was still a small death. Here lies our beloved summer, survived by her children, and still twinkling like a sparkler in the back of our minds. August isn’t just the end of the season though, it’s a celebration of it. Knowing that fall is right around the corner makes these warm summer nights that much sweeter.

August: Nostalgia

Reminiscing, showing all your cards, loving and letting go

• Review your summer bucket list. Maybe you never made one, maybe you’re almost finished with it. Either way, it’s a good time to review what’s on your list for summer, and make some time to squeeze in what you’re missing. I made a shared note with my sister and looking through it now we have some very difficult tasks to accomplish, like have a picnic in the park and go to Red Hook Lobster Pound.

• Close your eyes and think of childhood. If you could somehow bottle your ideal summers of yore, what would be in that bottle? For me, it’s some combination of fireflies and toasted marshmallows. Skin sticky with salt water, hands stained from berries. You can lean into those charms and do an activity for your inner child, bonus points if you do it with a loved one.

• Sift through your memories. I recently made a post about digital collaging, which could be a great place to start if you’re looking to take a deep dive in your camera roll. I personally have been scrapbooking this year, and I have a backlog of ticket stubs and photo booth strips I’ve been meaning to add to it.

• Mark the occasion. Back to bottling that summer feeling. I think the 2024 version of this is creating a playlist of all playlists that encapsulates your summer. If I’m going off my daylist, mine would be called ‘brat summer recession pop’ but I plan to expand in the coming weeks.

• Organize an event. This can be as big or as small as you want, but it should definitely be a moment to remember. In this month of yearning, I want to remain present with what I have, and most importantly, create new memories to yearn for in the future. Maybe it’s just a themed movie night with a friend, or a book swap your neighbors. Find a way to invite people in and have fun in the now.

✩ Make a list of three things you can see every day in summer. Fireflies flickering in the park! The sun setting all pinky-purple at 8:30pm! Cute Brooklyn dads and their cute babies at the ice cream truck! Now you’ll have something to look for on the daily.

✩ Infect others with your nostalgia. Do you have a family member or an old friend you have dear memories with? Go bring a tear to their eye with a well-timed ‘remember when?’

✩ Indulge in your summer media of choice. I think we all have a book or movie we love to revisit seasonally. I may have to watch Wet Hot American Summer again to truly mark summer 2024 as a success.

I lived in California for six years, and one of the big selling points of returning to the east coast was a return to seasons. I cannot tell you how many stories I have in San Francisco where I can’t remember the time of year because it is always 62 degrees and cloudy. Seasons assert time and place, and summer is such a sticky-sweet one. It’s sweat and salt and honey, and it clings your clothes to your skin.

As a kid I had a birthmark on the top of my thigh. A small oval that my family lovingly called my moon. It was always there, a few shades paler than the rest of me, almost like a thumbprint from a previous world. The older I got though, the more faded it became. All of me was more faded. My dad used to call me his little coffee bean, and now it takes a whole season to get some color in my skin. Maybe as adults we just spend less time outside. At some point, there was a summer that would mark my last spent barefoot and running in the backyard.

We don’t always honor these past lives, these uninhibited and screaming versions of ourselves that could spend a whole day without looking in a mirror. When did summer become so synonymous with a summer body, a summer glow, a must-have vacation? There was a time when it was enough to listen to the frogs chirp and turn weeds into daisy chains.

I sat on the subway with my sister last weekend in a pair of shorts. This is the first summer in a long time that I’ve gone for shorts, usually opting for flowing dresses and mid-length skirts. I stared down at my thighs splayed on the plastic seat as we rattled above the Gowanus canal, welcomed sunlight spilling through the windows for the few stops above ground. I continue staring. Prolonged eye contact with exposed skin was once a punishing act, done safely in the dark. This time I peered fondly, like I was reading a message from a ghost of summers past.

“My moon is back,” I showed my sister with a smile.

⊹₊ july favorites ₊ ⊹

I started July off strong with a performance of Swan Lake at the Metropolitan Opera House. I love New York because one second you can be nudging your way across a swampy subway platform, and the next you can be gliding past older women in gowns as you rush to the ladies room. One of my favorite works I’ve ever seen, and when I texted my mom about it she informed me she took me when I was a little girl. Post show we spilled out into the night and I mentally high-fived every four year old girl wearing a tutu and feathers.

I also read a few great books this month, one of which has made the cut to my top five of all time. I started with Honey, a debut novel from Isabel Banta. If you’re a fan of excellent writing, coming of age novels, and 2000s glitter pop stardom, you’re going to love it as much as I did. I also read my first James Baldwin, Giovanni’s Room. I knew I would like it, but I did not expect to be so floored by his writing. Set in 1950s Paris, Giovanni’s Room explores forbidden desire and traditional values with the insight of someone who has lived a thousand lives. Baldwin is one of those writers where I cannot understand how one person can write so beautifully about so many different human experiences and make them all feel authentic and poignant.

I would be remiss if I did not get a little superficial and spend a sentence or two on skincare. For a month now I’ve been diligent about my routine, and I’ve noticed a massive difference from a few key products. First of all…the Dr. Dennis Gross DRx SpectraLite™ FaceWare Pro actually works. I managed to snag it on extreme sale at a retail outlet, but for the high price tag it’s good to know that it is effective. I noticed a more even skin tone and texture after one use, and when I left it at my apartment for a week of vacation I missed it dearly. Another huge shoutout to Naturium everything, but particularly the Retinol Body Lotion for making my skin incredibly soft and smooth. I was also invited to a Glossier store event where I tried their revamped Invisible Shield. It’s a clear gel with such a silky application you will be asking people to feel your face (seriously, feel my face, it’s sooo smooth)! Since it’s summer I’ll give a final shoutout to Megababe— the creme de le creme of anti-chafing products. They sent me their new Night Rescue stick which has been great for overnight care as well.

Another highlight of the month has been spending more time in the woods. Luckily I live close enough to Prospect Park that I can get a taste of that in Brooklyn, but I spent a week in upstate New York and found myself totally at peace among the moss there too. Kylie Jenner called it in 2016, it’s still the year of realizing things, and those things are really basic like ‘wow I feel better when I go to bed early!’ and ‘It’s good for my mental health to be outside’.

⊹₊ special announcement ₊ ⊹

I’m really so lucky to be a part of the amazing community here on Substack. This month I’ve doubled my subscriber base, and really found my purpose with keepsake and writing in general. Going forward, I’ve decided to add a paid subscription for anyone looking to support my work further. I don’t want to take anything away from the free subscribers, but paid subscribers will get some bonus content. Think of it like buying me a coffee so I can linger at cafes for writing sessions.

FAQ !

What do paid subscribers get? Paid subscribers can expect bonus content from keepsake, which will now be on a set schedule of four posts a month. These posts will vary from monthly intentions like this one, personal essays, cultural commentary, and DIY guides for more creative living. Paid subscribers will also have the ability to start their own threads in the keepsake chat, where I hope we can all make friends with like-minded people across the globe. Certain free articles will also be extended for paid subscribers.

Can I still access keepsake for free? If you don’t want to be a paid subscriber, no worries. A free subscription gets you basically the same thing I’ve been putting on keepsake for months now, which is a monthly intentions email and one other newsletter a month. If you’re paid you get bonus newsletters and some exclusive content.

Thank you for everything and please go serve yourself a nice slice of August.

xo,

Julianna